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Car Window Travel Sewing Caddy Tutorial + Giveaway!!!

Monday, May 18, 2015

Hello friends!

Today I've invited my friend Aniva to share a tutorial with you for this super cute, super handy car window sewing caddy! She gave one to me as a gift the other day and I loved it so much that I immediately thought I needed to pass along the idea to all of you! This caddy is perfect for all of us that find ourselves doing hand work as we ride "shotgun" in our cars because it suctions right to your car window and it's just the right size to hold sewing necessities but doesn't take up too much space.

So without further ado, here's Aniva!

Thanks Amber for helping me to create the tutorial for this little caddy. I have enjoyed making these caddies as little gifts for my quilt friends, whether for a birthday or just a little "thinking of you" gift.

Sometime back I saw a post online where the blogger had used a shower caddy (the kind with suction cups to stick to the wall) found in a second hand store to create a caddy to use on her car window for when she sewed on car trips--I thought it was genius. I tried for some time to find such a container at a thrift shop and never succeeded. I did, eventually, find a new container that I really like at my local Wal-Mart in the bath and shower section. I found it to be the perfect size for a spool of thread and small scissors. The suction cups adhere it securely and temporarily to the car window without leaving any marks and I can move it about as often as I need to. The only thing I added to the container was a landing place for a few needles and pins.

Here is what you'll need--

Two - 2" x 2" fabric scraps

hot glue gun and glue

pinking blade for a rotary cutter or pinking shears

tiny bit of polyester stuffing

container of your choice with suction cups

(Please be mindful when choosing your container that since these are made for the bath they are designed with holes in the bottom so that water drains out. If your container is one with lots of holes you may want to also glue some heavy paper into the bottom so your supplies don't fall through the holes.)

Place your fabric squares WRONG SIDES TOGETHER. Sew three sides using a 1/4" seam allowance--yes you can backstitch. Stuff with a tiny bit of stuffing. Sew the last side together -- be sure to backstitch on this last side to make the whole thing stay together better.

Use the pinking blade on your rotary cutter or pinking shears to give the raw seam a cute little zigzag finished edge.

Adhere the small pin cushion to your container with a dab of hot glue.

Have fun filling your gift caddy with a fat quarter of fabric, small scissors, a package of your favorite needles, a gift card or anything you want.

The other thing that I have really loved is making the cute little hexie gift tags. Just type up whatever fun sewing saying you want to have on your tag into your computer using the word processing software of your choice. I set my page to have three columns so that I can get more sayings on one page of cardstock. Remember the tag is not very big so keep your saying fairly short. You can play with different font styles and font sizes.

When you are happy with your page print it out on the color of cardstock paper of your choice. Use some paper scissors to roughly cut the words apart. This doesn't have to be precise it is just so you can get your punch around the words. I used the Extra Large hexagon punch by Fiskars (this will give you a hexagon with a 1" side as shown) available at craft stores and websites. With the punch framing your saying, punch the paper. You can distress or embellish your little tag anyway you want. Punch a small circle in one corner so you can tie it on your gift. FYI- the Fiskars medium punch = 1/2" hexie and the Fiskars large punch = 3/4" hexie.

If you want to buy some similar hexagon papers, I found these darling little paper hexagon Charms made by Laundry Basket Quilts at a local quilt shop, Just Sew in Highland, Utah. They have the cutest sayings on them. There are 100 in a package and they come in two sizes. A 1" per side size and and 3/4" per side size. The papers pictured above are the 1" size. The sayings are about family, sewing, fabric and friendship. All you have to do is punch a small hole to make them so you can tie them on gifts. Super easy. If you want to purchase some of these online click HERE.

Amber is giving away a couple of these little caddies to two lucky readers. To enter, just leave a comment below. We'll pick a winner in the next couple of days.

I want to give a shout out to friends at Riley Blake for the cute polka dot fat quarters...thanks for making so many fabrics we love.

PS. I tried to find the original blog post that planted the seed for this idea in my mind but I was not able to find it so if you are that blogger contact Amber - she will be happy to give you credit on this post.

Cheerio!

Aniva♥ ♥ ♥Thanks Aniva for sharing this darling and practical idea with us! I know I'm going to be making quite a few of these for gifts! And thank you for contributing TWO of these cute caddies for our giveaway! Friends, be sure to leave a comment below to enter to win!Happy quilting!~ Amber

I had forgotten about this idea but I think I read the same blog post. I recall the name as Karen but she doesn't post using her name. I just got an email from her yesterday as she asks for people to link in on Sunday. I tired to find it with no luck as my gmail account has changed from a delete account to an archive and I can't find the archived file. She hasn't been posting as often but the next time she does, I'll email you the info. So you can check with her. Meanwhile, I'd love to win one of these as I didn't go looking for a resale one. Thanks for the idea!

What a great idea. We do a lot of traveling by car do to that my boys play sport and there school is 3 hour away. Can't wait to share this with my group. No more losing my scissor or needles on the long trip. Would love to win!mkbaliani@gmail.com

Hi there Amber,I just love that idea of using your hex punch to make gift tags! I also use my punch to make block labels for when I am laying out my blocks…I number them the same amount of numbers as I have blocks, then pin the #1 label to the block in the #1 position. It helps me keep my blocks in order after I have picked them up off the floor!Thanks!Quilty Huggs,Jacquelinesnausages22 at yahoo dot CA

How darling. I didn't take my hexies on a road trip over the weekend because car time was the only time I'd have to work on them and I thought it'd be too fiddly to accomplish anything. This is just a really clever solution.

This is one of the best ideas I've seen in a long time! My husband and I love to take road trips and I spend my time reading or sewing/embroidering. Of course, reading is no problem, but finding a place for needles and pins, scissors, and thread sure is! I can't tell you how many times I've poked myself in the leg while stashing pins on my pants leg. Thanks for the idea and tutorial!

I love this idea. Very clever and useful. I hope I win one of them. These would make great Christmas gifts for the ladies in my quilting group. Thanks for the idea and chance to win one of these darling gifts.

Wonderful idea and so cute. I would also add my knitting and crocheting notions, extra needle and hook markers, small measuring tape, extra crochet hook to pick up dropped stitches and a darning needle.

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